Laterally adjustable web feeding means



A ril 9, 1968 c. o. SUTTON LATERALLY ADJUSTABLE WEB FEEDING MEANS Filed April 27, 1966 IN VEN TOR.

CHARLES 0. SUTTON A TTOR/VE'YS United States Patent Ofilice 3,377,008 LATERALLY ADJUSTABLE WEB FEEDING MEANS Charles 0. Sutton, San Francisco, Calif., 'assigner to The American Binder Company of California, a corporation of California Filed Apr. 27, 1966, Ser. No. 545,699 7 Claims. (Cl. 226-400) Even in those machines which are ordinarily run with only a single Width of paper, it is also desirable to provide some means of moving some operating device, such as a slitter from side to side of the machine.

Means have heretofore been provided for adjusting such machines to provide for operations performed at different places on the web of paper but such means have rdinarily been diflicult to adjust, particularly by those who are not mechanically trained.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a paper handling machine wherein some operation performed on the paper can be done at a desired place on the web, i.e. that the operating device can be adjusted from side to side transversely of the path of travel of the paper.

Another object of this invention is to provide such a device which is easily adjusted to predetermined positions by unskilled personnel without the employment of tools.

Another object of this invention is to provide a machine wherein the adjustment is achieved by a series of program bars which can be selectively inserted in the machine.

A still further object of this invention is to provide such program bars with colored coded indicia whereby unskilled personnel can quickly adjust the machine to do any desired job.

Further objects will be apparent from the balance of the specification.

In the drawings forming part of this application:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of a machine embodying the present invention.

FIGURE 2 is a section on the line 2-2 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged section on the line 3-3 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 4 is a section on the line 44 of FIGURE 3.

Referring now to the drawings by reference characters there is shown a paper handling machine having side frame members 5 and 7 each of which includes flat, parallel side walls respectively 9 and .11. In the machine illustrated, two tractor units 13 and 15 are provided which are free to slide from side to side on the mounting rods 17 and 19. Mounting rod 19 has a square configuration so that it can be used to drive the tractor units regardless of the lateral disposition of the units on the machine. In the embodiment illustrated, the tractor units are driving a web of paper shown in phantom at 21 having perforations 23 at each edge thereof.

Also included in the embodiment of the invention illustrated is a pair of edge slitters 25 and 27 which are mounted on rod 29. Rod 29 has a keyway 31 so that the slitters can be activated no matter where they are located on the rod 29.

3,377,008 Patented Apr. 9, 1968 In accordance with the present invention, means are provided for definitely locating some operating unit, such as the tractor unit or edge slitters at desired predetermined spacings on their mounting rods. This is provided by means of program bars designated 33, 35, 37, 39, and 41. It will be seen that the program bars 33 and 35 are actively mounted in the machine while the program bars 37, 39, and 41 are temporarily not in service and are mounted on a rack 43 at one side of the machine.

To provide the locating function, a series of spacing members are mounted on the program bars. These can be in the form of disks 45, 47, and 49. As can best be seen in FIGURE 3, disk 49 is provided with a screw 51 having a knurled head 53; the disk can be moved to any desired point on the program bar and fastened in place by tightening the screw. Preferably each of the screws 51 has a colored knob 55 thereon, the purpose of which will be later explained. Mounted on each of the operating devices is a clamp member such as the member 57 which is pivoted at point 59 to the operating device 27 and which has a handle 61 extending at one end thereof. The center portion of the member 57 is U-shaped, as is best seen in FIGURE 4, having downwardl extending flanges 63 and 65 which fit over and engage the disk 49 on program bar 35.

The method of fastening the program bars into the machine can be seen with reference to FIGURES 1 and 4. One of the side walls 9 has an opening 67 to receive one end of the program bar while the side wall 11 has a corresponding opening for the opposite end. The bar itself has a collar 69 thereon through which a screw 71 extends. The side wall 11 is provided with a corresponding threaded member 73 so that to fasten a program bar in place, one first inserts the end without the collar in the opening 67 and then the bar can he slid backwards so that the opposite end of the bar is in the hole in the opposite side of the machine. The collar 69 is then placed flush with the side wall 11 and the screw 71 tightened into the opening 73. Thus the bar is rigidly clamped in place.

As has been previously mentioned, a coding system is preferably used so that the proper bars and locations thereon can be readily found by an unskilled employee and inserted in the machine. Thus each of the collars preferably has a colored handle on the nut as the one illustrated as 55. For instance, red might be selected to one width of paper while blue represented another width of paper and the employee would only need to know that he was to select, say, the red indicators for handling a certain size of paper. Further, a supply of program bars can be held on the rack 43 and selectively inserted in the machine by selecting the proper color or color combination.

In the embodiment of the device illustrated, two types of operating devices have been shown on the paper handling device, namely tractors and edge slitters. It must be understood that this is for purposes of illustration only and that various devices might be employed in any given machine for carrying on a desired operation such as propelling, slitting, imprinting or the like.

I claim:

1. In a paper handling device wherein a web of paper passes over a mechanism and wherein an operating device acts on said web the combination comprising:

(a) a mounting rod extending transversely of the path of travel of the web;

(b) an operating device slidably mounted on said mounting rod whereby said operating device can be slid from side to side on said mounting;

(c) a program bar;

(d) means for mounting said program bar in parallel relationship with said mounting rod;

(e) a plurality of spaced members on said program bar; and

(f) clamp means on said operating device whereby said operating device can be selectively fastened to one of said spacing members.

2. The structure of claim 1 wherein the spacing members can be moved along the program bar and fastened to a desired point.

3. The structure of claim 2 wherein a screw is employed to fasten the spacing member to the program bar.

4. The structure of claim -1 wherein the spacing members are provided with colored indicators.

5. The structure of claim 1 wherein the program bar is removably connected to the paper handling device.

6. The structure of claim 5 wherein the paper handling device includes parallel side walls with holes therein for the insertion and retention of the program bar and where- 4 in one end of the program bar has a collar thereon adapted to fit flush against one of the side walls and wherein a screw passes through the collar into a threaded opening in said side wall to hold the program bar in fixed position.

7. The structure of claim 1 wherein the clamp means comprises a U-shaped member pivoted to the operating device and wherein the sides of the U fit over and engage a spacing member.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,365,322 12/1944 Ashworth 226-179 2,868,540 l/1959 Herr 226-199 ALLEN N. KNOWLES, Primary Examiner. 

1. IN A PAPER HANDLING DEVICE WHEREIN A WEB OF PAPER PASSES OVER A MECHANISM AND WHEREIN AN OPERATING DEVICE ACTS ON SAID WEB THE COMBINATION COMPRISING: (A) A MOUNTING ROD EXTENDING TRANSVERSELY OF THE PATH OF TRAVEL OF THE WEB; (B) AN OPERATING DEVICE SLIDABLY MOUNTED ON SAID MOUNTING ROD WHEREBY SAID OPERATING DEVICE CAN BE SLID FROM SIDE TO SIDE ON SAID MOUNTING; (C) A PROGRAM BAR; (D) MEANS FOR MOUNTING SAID PROGRAM BAR IN PARALLEL RELATIONSHIP WITH SAID MOUNTING ROD; (E) A PLURALITY OF SPACED MEMBERS ON SAID PROGRAM BAR; AND (F) CLAMP MEANS ON SAID OPERATING DEVICE WHEREBY SAID OPERATING DEVICE CAN BE SELECTIVELY FASTENED TO ONE OF SAID SPACING MEMBERS. 